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My aunt and uncle live in Napa, where they have enough land to grown vegetables, fruit trees, and a small planting of grapes. Every year my aunt sends me a box full of Meyer lemons—which is always exciting for me, because Meyers aren’t easy to find in NYC; if you do find them, they’re astronomically expensive.
Upon receiving the lemons, I do two things. First, I notify a few friends and tell them they’ve arrived, and will share a few, as long as said friends promise to share with me whatever they end up making. Out of this arrangement I’ve received Meyer Lemon preserves, a Moroccan-prepared fish dish garnished with Meyers, and some other stuff. With the majority of the lemons left, I set about making as many Meyer lemon dishes as I possibly can. This year, I’ve made these recipes:
1. Lemon Bars – Monnica made this recipe at the Tiv when I was home during X-mas, and they’re very easy to make, and delicious. It doesn’t specifically call for Meyers, so I cut down the amount of sugar to 1 1/4 cups, and it was great. I made two batches while still in Sacramento using Mom and Dad’s lemons from the backyard, and made two more batches back in NYC with the lemons from Napa.
2. Meyer Lemon Tart (pictured) – This turned out really well too. I even managed to not completely burn the crust.
3. Meyer Lemon Cranberry Scones – I’ve made these every year. They’re foolproof and really good. Even DBF, who dislikes lemons, will eat these.
4. Two kinds of lemon curd. One specifically for Meyer lemons, and one from Claudia Fleming’s book. I couldn’t actually tell the difference between the two. All I can say is that Epicurious one was a tad less complicated to make, and therefore is the winner.
5. Two kinds of Spaghetti al Limone. One from The New York Times, and one from New York magazine. The former was superior by far. Nice, subtle, lemony flavor. The latter was runny with cream at the end, and the lemon flavor got lost.
I think I made at least one or two more recipes, but I can’t remember what they are now. I’m now only have a few lemons left, and hope to stretch them by making this Meyer lemon cheesecake with Meyer lemon curd and almond crust.
